History suggests Michigan will likely be hit the hardest.

The latest State Employment and Unemployment Summary from the BLS shows Michigan just passed California for the second highest unemployment rate in the nation after Nevada, not counting D.C. as a state.

Unemployment Rates Significantly Different From National

Unemployment Rate Detail

Michigan’s Unemployment Spike

The Wall Street Journal discusses Michigan’s Unemployment Spike

President Trump’s tariffs will harm all 50 states. But ground zero is Michigan, which was already coping with rising unemployment and job losses in manufacturing before his border taxes hit.

Michigan’s unemployment rate in March spiked to 5.5% from 4.2% a year earlier, according to the Labor Department’s state employment report on Friday. That’s the biggest jump of any state. Michigan has catapulted over California and Illinois to claim the nation’s second highest unemployment rate after Nevada (5.7%).

One culprit is the Biden Administration’s electric-vehicle mandate, which has caused thousands of auto-industry layoffs. Michigan has been shedding manufacturing jobs since summer 2023 and has lost about 13,000 in the last year. This month General Motors said it would temporarily cut 200 jobs at its EV factory in Detroit amid slowing demand.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic lawmakers created a hostile business environment after taking complete control of the statehouse in 2023. They repealed the state’s right-to-work law that gave workers a choice of whether to join a union and imposed prevailing-wage mandates that shut out non-union contractors from state-funded construction projects.

To pay for more transfer payments, Democrats last year raised the state’s flat income tax rate to 4.25% from 4.05%. Ms. Whitmer recently pitched raising the corporate rate to 8% from 6%. Nearly 90% of businesses that would be affected employ fewer than 100 workers. Hard to believe, Ms. Whitmer fashions herself as a pro-business moderate.

Mr. Trump’s tariffs will compound this Democratic damage. Michigan last year imported $53.8 billion of motor vehicles and parts from Mexico and $22.1 billion from Canada. These are now subject to a 25% tariff. Michigan manufacturers also rely heavily on steel and aluminum from Canada, which Mr. Trump has also hit with a 25% tariff.

Michigan shed another 4,500 manufacturing jobs last month as the metal tariffs took effect. Some auto suppliers have reported slowing production and held off hiring because of uncertainty caused by his auto tariffs. Ford stopped shipping cars made in Michigan to China owing to Beijing’s retaliatory tariffs.

Democrats in Lansing may be driving Michigan into an economic ditch, but Mr. Trump’s tariffs will make him jointly liable for the harm.

Michigan is a perennial recession loser and the cards are already falling that way again.

Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs add to Biden’s EV nonsense and the Governor’s tax folly to make Michigan a big loser again.

Related Posts

January 6, 2025: Trump Claims Tariffs Will Make U.S. Steel Great Again, He’s Very Wrong

As U.S. Steel and Nippon sue the Biden administration, Trump weighs in on the deal.

February 11, 2025: Trump’s Steel Tariffs Now Will Work as Good as the First Time

Q: How’s that? A: Very poorly.

February 18, 2025: Ford CEO Warns Automakers Could Lose Billions if Tariffs Take Effect

After backing down on Mexico and Canada, a major tariff escalation presumably starts Monday.

March 26, 2025: News Flash: Trump Says “Car Companies Will Be Thrilled With Tariffs”

The word of the hour is “thrilled” by 25 percent tariffs on autos starting April 2.

That was one of Trump’s more idiotic statements and it came after auto industry executives begged Trump not to do it.

April 18, 2025: Ford Halts Shipments of F-150s and Other Models to China, Winning?

The shipment halt is a logical conclusion to something no one would buy.

No one could possibly have seen this coming except …

April 6, 2025: Michigan’s Economy Will Be the First Big Loser of Tariff Madness

Nearly 20 Percent of Michigan’s economy is directly or indirectly related to autos.

And here we are.

More By This Author: